Tape applicator

ABSTRACT

AN APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING ELONGATED STRIPS OF TAPE, HAVING PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE THEREON, TO A FLOOR OR PAYMENT SURFACE AND INCLUDING A RECEPTACLE FOR A ROLL OF TAPE, THE RECEPTACLE HAVING A BOTTOM WALL MOVABLE OVER SAID SURFACE FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO THE TAPE THEREAGAINST DURING DISPENSING OF THE TAPE TO SAID SURFACE. A HANDLE IS CONNECTED TO THE RECEPTACLE FOR IMPARTING APPLYING MOVEMENT THERETO.   D R A W I N G

April 6, 1971 13 1, MGMULLEN ETAL 3,574,042

` TAPE APPLIGATOR Filed May 5, 1969 FIC- Z;

I NVENTORS HJW/Www@ m ToRNEYs nZs J. ncMuLLEN mns J. Nc MULLEN JR.

United States Patent O M 3,574,042 TAPE APPLICATOR Thomas J. McMullen and Thomas James McMullen, Jr., Minneapolis, Minn., assignors to The McMullen Co., St. Paul, Minn.

Filed May 5, 1969, Ser. No. 821,718 Int. Cl. B32b 3.1/20; B44c 7/02 U.S. Cl. 156-577 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An applicator for applying elongated strips of tape, having pressure-sensitive adhesive thereon, to a floor or pavement surface and including a receptacle for a roll of tape, the receptacle having a bottom wall movable over said surface for applying pressure to the tape thereagainst during dispensing of the tape to said surface. A handle is connected to the receptacle for imparting applying movement thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Elongated strips of flexible tape, having a pressuresensitive adhesive surface, are used extensively for ternporary or permanent control of traffic as by marking on pavement of trafiic lanes, factory and warehouse lanes, stopping lines, parking areas and the like, as well as for laying out of temporary playing areas in such games as tennis, basketball, volleyball and others, where a hard playing surface is available. Such marking tape is usually supplied in rolls and the manual laying or applying such tape consumes much time and effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An important object of this invention is the provision of a tape applicator which can be inexpensively produced, and by means of which pressure-sensitive adhesiveequipped tape can be applied to a given surface quickly and accurately. To this end, we provide an applicator including a tape-roll receiving receptacle having a bottom wall adapted to be slidingly moved over the surface to be marked, upstanding wall structure for holding the tape in position to be applied, and handle means whereby the applicator may be moved over the surface to be marked. The bottom wall defines a rounded bearing surface at its front end over which the tape travels from the roll thereof to the surface to which it is applied under the bottom wall of the receptacle. In one lform of the invention, the wall structure includes a pair of resilient side walls, and a yielding element provided to urge the side walls toward each other, whereby to frictionally engage axially opposite ends of the roll of tape therebetween to retard dispensing rotation of the tape roll. A modified form of applicator supports the tape roll in its own container, the bottom wall of the applicator having a front end portion bent backwardly over itself to provide the above-mentioned bearing surface and a rearwardly projecting flange defining with the bottom wall a rearwardly opening channel for reception of a portion of the container to aid in holding container in the receptacle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a tape applicator produced in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in top plan of the applicator of FIG. l showing the same in a folded condition for storage or transport;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation as seen from the right to the left of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. l;

3,574,042 Patented Apr. 6, 1971 ICC FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a modified form of tape applicator; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on the line 6 6 of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 4, an open-topped generally rectangular receptacle 1 is shown as comprising an elongated fiat bottom wall 2, laterally spaced parallel side walls 3 extending upwardly from the bottom wall 2, and front and rear wall portions in the nature of vertically disposed inturned front and rear pairs of flanges 4 and 5 respectively. The front end portion of the bottom wall 2 is bent backwardly over itself to provide a rearwardly projecting flange 6 that extends transversely of the receptacle 1 and denes a cross-sectionally rounded extreme front edge 7.

Means for moving the receptacle 1 over a surface to be marked, such as a floor or pavement, indicated at 8, comprises an elongated operating handle 9, which includes a pair of generally U-shaped handle sections 10 and 11 each formed to provide a pair of laterally spaced legs 12 and -13 respectively and generally transverse connecting portions 14 and 15 respectively. The free ends of the legs 12 are pivotally connected to the side walls 3 of the receptacle 1 by rivets or nut-equipped screws l16 disposed on an axis in upwardly spaced parallel relation to the bottom wall 2 and extending transversely thereof. The legs 13 are pivotally connected each to a different one of the legs 12 adjacent the transverse connecting portion 14 by thumb nut-equipped screws or similar fastenings 17 disposed on a common axis parallel to the common axis of the screws 16. By loosening the thumb nut-equipped screws 117, the handle section 11 may be swung relative to the handle section 10` between an operative position shown in FIG. 3 and an inoperative storage position, wherein the handle section 10 is swung forwardly of the receptacle 3 to be disposed generally parallel to the bottom wall 2 thereof, the handle section 11 extending rearwardly from the handle section 10, as shown in FIG. 2.

Adjacent their upper edges, the side walls 3 are provided with aligned openings 18 for reception of the hooked ends 19 of a coil tension 20 that yieldingly urges the upper portions of the side walls 3 toward each other. To operate the tape applicator of FIGS. l-4, a roll of flexible marking tape 21 is placed in the receptace 1 to be disposed on an axis parallel to and extending transversely of the bottom wall 2, as shown in FIG. 4. The spring 20 is then hooked to the side walls 3 to yieldingly urge the side walls 3 into frictional engagement with axially opposite ends of the roll 21. The front flanges 4 terminate at their lower ends in upwardly spaced relation to the rearwardly folded ange 6 to define therewith an opening 22 through which the free end of the tape is projected with the adhesive side 23 of the tape disposed upwardly. The tape is then bent or curved downwardly and rearwardly over the rounded bearing surface 7 so that the extended end portion of the tape 21 underlies the bottom wall 2 of the receptacle 1 with the adhesive surface 23 facing downwardly. The extended end portion of the tape 21 is pressed against the surface of the floor or pavement 8 by the receptacle 1. As the operator moves the applicator forwardly by pushing forwardly and downwardly on the operating handle 9, the roll of tape 21 unwinds and is pressed against the floor or pavement 8 by downward pressure of the bottom wall 2 thereagainst. Due to the tendency of the tape 21 to adhere to itself in the roll thereof, and further due to the frictional engagement of the side walls 3 to the adjacent axial ends of the roll of tape, forward movement of the receptacle 1 during its tape-applying operation, causes the front end portion of the bottom wall 2 to be pulled downwardly toward the underlying oor or pavement 8l so that substantial downward pressure is applied to the tape against the underlying pavement surface to cause the tape to adhere iirmly thereto. When it is desired to sever the tape 21 from the roll thereof, at the end of a desired strip, it is only necessary to move the applicator rearwardly a few inches to provide a loop of tape forwardly of the applicator, swing the applicator to the right or to the left to dispose the same at an oblique angle to the line of the applied tape, and thereafter by a quick forward thrust on the operating handle 9, move the front edge portion 7 against the loop, shearing or tearing the tape.

In the modiiied embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. and 6, those parts which are identical to corresponding parts shown in FIGS. 1-4 carry the same numerals with prime marks added. The applicator of FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises a cross-sectionally generally U-shaped receptacle 24 having an elongated bottom wall 25 and a pair of laterally spaced generally vertical side walls 26 to the rear end portion of which is pivotally mounted an operating handle 9' including handle sections and 11', the pivotal connection of the handle 9 to the walls 26 being indicated at 16. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the receptacle 24 is adapted to hold and support a generally rectangular container 27 in which a roll of tape 21 is normally packaged, the container 27 having a dispensing opening 28 across one corner thereof between adjacent container walls 29 and 30. The front end of the receptacle bottom wall 25 is bent backwardly over itself to provide a generally rearwardly projecting transverse ange 6 which cooperates with the underlying portion of the bottom wall 25 to define a rearwardly opening recess 31 for reception of an edge portion of the container wall 30, as shown in FIG. 6. The iiange 6 and adjacent portion of the receptacle bottom wall 25 deiine a cross-sectionally arcuate bearing surface 7 over which tape 21 moves during dispensing and application thereof to the underlying floor or pavement 8. For the purpose of movably securing the container 27 against movement in the receptacle 24, a pair of short strips 32 of the tape 21 may be adhered to each side wall 26 and an adjacent side of the container 27, one of the strips being shown as thus applied, in FIG. 5. It will be appreciated that the handle 9' may be folded upon itself and with respect to the receptacle 24 in the same manner as the handle 9 of FIGS. 1-4, for the purpose of storage or shipment.

What is claimed is:

1. An adhesive tape applicator comprising:

(a) an open-topped receptacle having a generally rectangular bottom wall and upstanding wall structure generally normal to said bottom wall for reception of a pressure-sensitive adhesive-equipped roll of ilexible tape and disposition of said roll on an axis extending transversely of and parallel to said bottom wall;

(b) said bottom wall having a front end portion bent backwardly over itself to provide a generally rearwardly projecting transverse liange and a cross-sectionally rounded extreme front end defining a bearing surface for movement of tape thereover and beneath said bottom wall;

(c) an elongated operating handle for imparting forward and downward pressure to said receptacle;

(d) and means connecting said handle to said receptacle;

(e) said bottom wall having a bottom surface disposed to slidably engage the tape thereunder and press the tape downwardly against an underlying ground surface responsive to exertion of said forward and downward pressure on said receptacle.

2. The applicator according to claim l in which said means comprises a pivotal connection between said handle and said upstanding wall structure, said pivotal connection mounting said handle for swinging movements on an axis transversely of said receptacle.

3. The tape applicator according to claim 1 in which said upstanding wall structure comprises a pair of parallel side wall elements for disposition at axially opposite ends of said roll of tape, and front and rear Wall portions disposed adjacent the front and rear ends respectively of said bottom wall, the front wall portion having a lower end upwardly spaced from said bottom Wall to provide a passage for tape therebetween.

4. The tape applicator according to claim 3 in which said side wall elements are resilient and bendable toward and away from each other, characterized by yielding means urging said side walls in directions toward each other for frictional engagement of said side wall elements with adjacent ones of said ends of the tape roll.

5. The tape applicator according to claim 1 in which said receptacle is formed from a single piece of sheet metal having laterally spaced portions bent upwardly to provide a pair ofv opposed side Walls for reception of a dispensing container for said roll of tape therebetween, said transverse ange being disposed in upwardly spaced relationship to said bottom wall to define therewith a rearwardly opening channel for reception of a portion of said dispensing container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,206,350 9/1965 Paradis et al. l56-577X 3,254,623 6/1966 Rapp 156-575X 3,297,510 1/1967 DuBroff 156-575X 3,468,743 9/1969 Soriano 156-527X 3,204,272 9/1965 Greene et al. 16-110X SAMUEL FEINBERG, Primary Examiner J. M. HANLEY, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

